Chenyuhan Zuo
Photography MA
Royal College of Art
Graduates: 2023
Specialisms: Photography / Fine Art
My location: London, United Kingdom
Chenyuhan Zuo
First Name: Chenyuhan
Last Name: Zuo
University / College: Royal College of Art
Course / Program: Photography MA
Graduates: 2023
Specialisms: Photography / Fine Art
My Location: London, United Kingdom
About
Emerging from a family devoid of emotional bonds and encouragement, Chenyuhan emerged into the world bearing psychic gifts that set her apart as an anomaly among her peers. In her formative years, she grappled with this uniqueness, enduring three harrowing encounters with suicide during her adolescence, thus casting a shadow of pessimism over her artistic expression.With adulthood came a transformative shift, as she harnessed her pain and channeled it into creative energy, finding solace in crafting art and orchestrating rhythms on the drums. Today, she resides in the vibrant heart of London, where she thrives as both a formidable metal drummer and a captivating visual artist.Her expertise lies in the intricate interplay of the five human senses, with a particular focus on translating the auditory tapestries inspired by diverse rock genres and delving into the subconscious realms of psychic experiences, all distilled into the language of visuals.A medley of influences from the realms of pop culture colors her work, drawing from Quentin Tarantino's visceral aesthetics, Vivienne Westwood's defiant punk sensibilities, the sonic landscapes of bands like Bring Me the Horizon, the evocative strains of Scandinavian black metal, and the dynamic storytelling of Japanese manga.In her creations, Chenyuhan wields her personal enigma and uncertainty about the future as a driving force, enveloping her audience in a shared sense of the unknown that shrouds humanity's path forward. Through a year of intensive focus, she has translated her contemplations into meticulously curated arrangements of delicate, luminous artifacts, birthing a distinctive aesthetic woven around poignant still-life compositions. This narrative seamlessly converges with the concept of post-humanity, as she deftly weaves a tapestry of her complex emotions and ambivalence towards the trajectory of both mankind and her own journey.
Ju: a futile repair performance is a piece of photography work based on performance art that lasts for almost 3 years from 2021 to 2023. The artist combined her own Chinese cultural background with the repair method (Ju, which works like a staple gun) to repair and record the urban and natural landscapes of Beijing, Melbourne and London as she has lived in different cities these years. She uses multiple methods to repair and record, the whole process starts with repairing with a staple gun and shooting, and then she prints the pictures out and sticks them back to the original places and shoots again. This method of using a camera as a recording tool, overlapping time and space, originally originated from the discussion of the photographic medium. Using a staple gun to repair damaged soil, walls, floors, plants, etc. is essentially futile, which is an artist's interpretation of the concept of "repair" and ecological environmental issues. What kind of repairs are inevitable? What kinds of items are damaged? What needs to be repaired? And whether this kind of repair really works at all, the artist keeps performing this repair for 3 years all around the world just to put these questions forward to the audience, and at the same time to express her own concerns and uncertainties about the future of the ecological environment.
Competitions
